


Lunar Spectacle

by DragonWannabe



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, She/They Ming-Hua, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29236881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonWannabe/pseuds/DragonWannabe
Summary: Growing up in a small Earth Kingdom town, Ming-Hua hadn’t fought very many firebenders.Zaheer encourages them to spar with P’li, and Ming-Hua keeps losing.
Relationships: Ming-Hua/P'li (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 15
Collections: Winter ATLA Femslash Week 2021





	Lunar Spectacle

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Winter ATLA Femslash Prompt: “Moon”

Ming-Hua wasn’t used to dealing with firebenders. She had grown up in the Earth Kingdom to a waterbending father and a nonbending mother. In her town, there weren’t very many firebenders, and typically they weren’t the sort of people that she sparred with, busy with their businesses or taking on apprenticeships. Even after her peers got over her lack of arms and realized she was a formidable opponent, they were still often reluctant to spar with her.

After Ming-Hua was on their own, people were willing to fight them, but still firebenders weren’t common in their corner of the Earth Kingdom. Zaheer had been surprised that they lacked experience against firebending opponents, especially after Ming-Hua had so thoroughly trounced him, and held their own against Ghazan. 

They had been humbled when P’li managed to obliterate their water arms quickly, all without even using her third eye. Ming-Hua wasn’t used to being so outclassed, and immediately demanded another spar with P’li. P’li was still winning, but they were certain they just needed to improve their agility and soon they would be able to beat the firebender.

It had been days, and while it took longer for P’li to beat her, Ming-Hua was still frustrated at constantly losing.

“You’re getting sloppy.” The taller woman called, shooting a blast at Ming-Hua. She dodged it fast enough that only the tip of the appendage evaporated, and she used her opponent's hesitation to send a sheet of ice towards her. P’li dodged it, and Ming-Hua growled in frustration. Firebenders were light on their feet, a far cry from earthbenders that stood their ground and were easy to unbalance with the right strikes. 

They continued lobbing attacks towards one another, and Ming-Hua was certain they’d have to heal a few burns once this was over. One of the rules for this spar was that Ming-Hua couldn’t replenish their water arms, in an attempt to simulate a fight in an area with no additional water, and to give them practice at maintaining instead of restocking. 

It infuriated Ming-Hua to no end. They could pick up water that they had originally had, then lost, but the stream around her was off limits. She could bury P’li in ice with the stream and be done with it, but the first time she had suggested it, Zaheer looked disappointed in them and Ming-Hua gave up on that endeavor. 

Another kick and P’li sent another blast of fire towards them, and Ming-Hua cursed as their arm disintegrated as it blocked her body from the heat. 

“You yield yet?” P’li huffed and Ming-Hua rolled their eyes. Both of them knew she wouldn’t yield until both arms were gone. At the rate they were going, she had maybe five more minutes until P’li cornered her with a fire blade and Ming-Hua had no choice but to yield. 

P’li looked annoyed and redoubled her efforts. Ming-Hua’s remaining arm evaporated into nothing in an embarrassingly short period of time, and Ming-Hua was panting at the end of it. 

She formed new ones from the stream and looked at Zaheer, who had watched the match silently, and had a vague air of disapproval around him. Ming-Hua asked, “Do you have any suggestions on how to keep them against fire?I can pull water from the air, but it’s not enough.”

Zaheer was thoughtful as he responded, “Is it possible for you to meet fire with ice when you block?”

She knew _why_ he harped on her all the time to be able to do this, and it wasn’t like she didn’t get it. If Ghazan ran out of earth, he wasn’t wholly incompetent in nonbending martial arts. P’li was more than capable of holding her own, but it wasn’t like fire ran out anyway. No, he was worried about how, if they were in some forsaken desert with no water, Ming-Hua could be an easy target. 

It wasn’t like it mattered. She was more than capable of getting herself out of a dangerous situation, and people always underestimated her. A prison to prevent her from escaping would require significant funding, and none of the organizations they were skirmishing with had that kind of money. 

“I can, but the difference is barely noticeable.” They responded. Did he think they hadn't already tried that? It would prevent a tiny fraction from evaporating, but nothing substantial.

“What if we did this on a full moon?” P’li interjected, “We’ve been doing this at noon when I’m the strongest and Ming-Hua is at their weakest. If you can figure out something when I’m weaker, you might be able to beat me when I’m stronger.”

Both the waterbender and nonbender considered this. Ming-Hua was more confident the fight would at least last longer, and it was easier to keep a grip on water if there was a full moon. 

“Why not? Next full moon is in a week. Rematch then?” Ming-Hua offered. P’li nodded and the three of them went back to their camp.

——

Ming-Hua felt even better about their odds when the full moon finally came out from behind the clouds. P’li’s firebending wasn’t as strong, and Ming-Hua would have a better grip over every particle of water in their arms. 

It was never a formal ceremony, like the Fire Nation’s antiquated Agni Kai’s or pro-bending matches. The two would stand, Zaheer would give the go-ahead and one would attack first, typically P’li. 

Invigorated from the moon, Ming-Hua made the first strike, forcing P’li to retreat. P’li didn’t stay on the defense for long, and Ming-Hua found themself dodging fire. They weren’t quite fast enough and the tips of their arms were singed off. Ming-Hua vaulted over P’li, hoping that if she could disorient the giantess, the match would be over sooner. While P’li’s back was still turned, Ming-Hua iced over one of her ankles and unbalanced her. P’li hit the ground with a grunt, and a flame shot out from the affected foot, disconnecting it from the rest of the arm. The water melted and faded into the ground. 

Ming-Hua gritted their teeth. The match would end when P’li was subdued, and she put all her focus into unbalancing the taller woman. After five additional minutes of dancing around, with more lost water, P’li stumbled and Ming-Hua took the opportunity, freezing each hand in ice and pulling P’li towards the ground. 

P’li landed ungracefully, and Ming-Hua followed, her arms not quite long enough to maintain the distance she wanted. She readjusted and straddled P’li’s waist and looked down at the woman she normally had to look up to. 

The moonlight softened P’li’s sharp features, making her seem more relaxed than she typically did, even after sparring for ten minutes. P’li was staring at Ming-Hua, a small grin on her face. 

“You beat me, for once.” P’li teased, panting, and Ming-Hua wanted to kiss her senseless for being so pretty despite the dirt and sweat coating her skin. It wasn’t the first time she’d had such an urge, but it was the first time post sparring match. Her mood was typically too sour to want to show affection, and P’li knew to wait until she cooled off from her defeat.

Ming-Hua glanced at P’li’s still restrained wrists before looking at her face again. “Yeah I did.” she responded softly, distracted. She leaned forward until her face hovered over P’li’s, her brown eyes staring into P’li’s flaming eyes.

P’li searched her face before saying earnestly, “My pride is bruised since you managed to defeat me so easily. I think a kiss would make it feel better.” P’li winked.

Ming-Hu rolled their eyes at her matter of fact words, but couldn’t find it in themself to deny the request. She leaned down and brushed her lips against the firebender’s soft mouth before pulling back. “All better?” P’li nodded. “Good. We both reek, and you’re filthy. I can kiss you more places after we clean ourselves up.”

P’li looked excited as Ming-Hua withdrew her water manacles and hauled herself upright.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to talk about these beautiful women, the Red Lotus, or TLOK as a whole, I’m on twitter and tumblr @lilyliv3rs where I don’t shut up about them.


End file.
